Dire

“Not exactly, but I couldn’t stand thinking I’d let you down again.”

“You didn’t, and this isn’t all on you. I’m supposed to be helping too.”

“Oh, you’re helping.” He smiled. “You’re keeping me sane and satisfied, all the important things.”

“Same to you.”

He squeezed my hand. “Good. I’m glad I’m doing both, it means you like me for more than my body.”

“How do you know? Maybe it’s your body keeping me sane?” I smiled.

“Nah, that would be the part driving you crazy and making you anything but sane.”

I laughed. “Good point.”

We walked along the road, not sure exactly how far away the next town was and wondering when a car would come by. It was a rarely used back road by the looks of it, but there were a few track marks on the snow.

“Do you think people will believe us? I mean we have no IDs or phones, so we’re going to have to rely on someone else for help.”

“Someone will let us use a phone. That’s all we need.”

“True. Hopefully no one found your truck yet.” I needed to believe my parents were spared the heartbreak. I couldn’t even imagine what my parents were going through otherwise.

“I know.” He looked off into the distance. “I’m going to miss Bessy.”

“I’m guessing insurance doesn’t cover crazy wolves burning it in the woods.”

“Nope, but we weren’t in it when it burned, so I can’t complain too much.”

I leaned into his side, so grateful that we were both alive and together. “Exactly.”

The sound of an engine behind us had us both turning. Gage pushed me behind him. A large green SUV slowed down in front of us. What would have been a welcome sight before meeting the wolves now had us both tense.

“Need some help?” A light female voice asked from the partially opened window. The window was tinted so we couldn’t see anything.

Gage and I looked at each other. Neither of us were feeling particularly trusting.

He answered for us. “I think we’re ok. How far is the next town though?”

The driver rolled down the window more. I watched Gage’s face relax when he saw the speaker. She was a beautiful brunette not much older than us. “It’s a good six miles further. Let me give you two a lift. It’s freezing out.”

“No. it’s okay.” A pretty girl didn’t make me more trustful, it made me less.

Gage squeezed my hand. I expected him to argue with me, but he didn’t. “That’s all right, but thanks.” He tugged on my hand slightly to get me walking.

“I think you might want to change your mind,” the girl called from the car.

“We’re fine.” I replied without turning around.

The engine cut, so I started walking faster. What could these people want? After everything we’d been through, I knew it probably wasn’t anything good. I was never a particularly trusting person, but after my experience with the wolves I was skeptical of everyone.

Seconds later there was a hand on my shoulder whirling me around. “Ignoring us was a big mistake.”

I took in a breath. I was looking into the face of a girl who looked remarkably similar to me. She had the same long red hair and green eyes.

I just stared at the girl in front of me. “Who are you?”

“Who am I? Shouldn’t the question be ‘who are you’? I mean you do reek of my ex, which seems silly when you have a man like that available.” Her eyes raked over Gage.

“Uh, we really don’t want trouble. So if you don’t mind we’ll be going.” Gage put his arm around me.

“No trouble? Oh honey, you’ll be no trouble at all. I’m sure you’ll be fun.” She licked her lips before turning to me. “This tramp will be trouble though.”

“Tramp?” My eyes probably bugged out of my head.

“Let’s go.” Gage started to turn around.

“You’re not going anywhere, honey.” She grabbed his arm. “And to think Hunter tried to keep you from me. He was always a jealous boy.”

“Hunter?” Gage exhale loudly.

“I take it you aren’t a fan of his either?”

“He tried to steal my girlfriend and kept us captive. Not really.”

Was this the same ex that got taken by the witches?

“You should have let him have her. I assure you, you’ll have more fun with us.” She wrapped her hand around his bicep. “Come along, now.”

He shrugged her off. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”

“Oh yes, you are.”

“Not a chance.” He stepped toward her. “Get out of our way.”

Her eyes locked on his, and she held her hand out in front of her.

“What the hell?” Gage stood frozen. “I can’t move.”

I reached for him. “Leave us alone.” Was she a witch now too? Damn it, were we ever going to catch a break?

She turned to me. “Now what do we do with you? What do you think, Helen?” she called to the driver who was now outside the SUV. “Can we use her for something?”

“I don’t know… why not give her back to Hunter? Maybe the guy deserves a toy. We all know he likes red heads.” Helen laughed.

“I wonder how much he wants her…. maybe he’d pay.”

“I bet he would.” Helen chewed on her fingernail.

The red haired one held out her hand in front of her while she looked at me.

I felt a strange tingling sensation. I tried to move, but every inch of me was stuck. Including my mouth.

“What’s the problem, cat got your tongue?” She laughed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Evidently Gage’s mouth still worked just fine.

“Stop trying to play the hero honey, that’s not what we want from you.”

“Then what do you want?”

Please let someone else come by, I said over and over in my head.

“You’ll see. I knew Hunter had caught me a new pet, I had no idea how nice though.” She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the back of the SUV. He wasn’t fighting it, but by the confused and angry expression on his face, he wasn’t going on his own accord.

Hunter’s ex turned to me. “I’m trying to decide whether to leave you out here to freeze or bring you home. I’m not sure which would be better.” she pushed Gage in and slammed the door.

“Tough decision.” Helen laughed. “Leave her, Vanessa. Maybe Hunter will find her body. That would piss him off, wouldn’t it?”

Vanessa grinned. “Good idea. That way we don’t have to dispose of her.” She walked around to the passenger side of the car. “Have a nice day, tramp. I can’t wait to find out just how good your boy here is. I’m sure he’ll forget about you in about what… hmm five minutes.” She slammed her door. Helen walked over and spit in my face before she got in the driver’s seat. Moments later she started the SUV and drove away.